Palestinians denounce after assassination two Hamas member in Hebron

Islam Times: Fatah Revolutionary Council member Jamal Nazzal said the killing of two Hamas militants by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Friday was an attempt to drag Palestinians into a cycle of violence. He said Israel was using former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's equation, that violence plus violence equaled liberation from peace talks.

Israel's assassination policy aimed to provoke violent reactions from Palestinians, which would regress the Palestinian situation back to 2002, he said.

Israeli forces killed Al-Qassam Brigade leaders Nashat Al-Karmi and Maamoun Al-Natsha during a raid in Hebron early Friday morning.

An Israeli army statement said the men were involved in the fatal shooting of four settlers near Hebron on 31 August, an attack claimed by the Al-Qassam Brigades. The Brigades and Fatah's armed wing the Al-Aqsa Brigades have vowed to respond to the killings.

Nazzal said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government aimed to detract international attention from its settlement activity across the West Bank. President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to withdraw from recently resumed negotiations if Israel did not agree to stop building settlements on Palestinian land. He is expected to announce his decision at an Arab League meeting on Saturday.

The Fatah official said Israeli actions hoped to provoke Palestinian violence, in order that Netanyahu could demand an end to the violence as a condition to resume talks.

Nazzal called on Palestinian factions not to be dragged into "an Israeli maze," which he said would have fatal consequences.

Hamas accuses PA of collaboration

Several Hamas leaders have blamed Palestinian Authority security cooperation with Israel for the killings. Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called on the PA to "unleash the resistance in the West Bank" by releasing political prisoners from jail and ending security coordination with Israel.

Meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said the killings would "not break Hamas and Al-Qassam," a statement issued Friday read, and reiterated Abu Zuhri's accusation that the incident was the result of coordination.

"These crimes ... are the fruit of talks. This blood will be fuel for resistance attacks," the Hamas official said, urging factions to "specify" their stance toward the PA and its "chasing resistance fighters in the West Bank. They [the PA] are not considering as representing the Palestinians."

Fayyad says killings 'undermine PA'

Ramallah-based Prime Minister Salam Fayyad denounced the killings, which he said weakened the PA and undermined "its accomplishments in imposing stability, public order and the sovereignty of law."



Fayyad called on the international community not to remain silent while Israel ignored the PA's demands to maintain a security presence in areas it controls.



The assassinations also risked the Palestinian national project, Fayyad said, warning that campaigns inciting against the PA and its security would follow.